Alexa Velez says that her home state of Florida, is the center for hurricanes, lightning strikes, and other environmental activities.
Florida is where Velez got her passion for the environment.
Velez won the Frankenthaler climate art award for her short film Of the Air because of this passion.
She was joined by Douglas Tolman of the University of Utah, and Maurcio Chades of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Each winner was awarded a $15,000 grant to support their respective projects.
Velez’s most recent project, “Of the Air”, examines how humans are both dependent and disconnected from the natural environment and world.
Velez said that on a larger scale, Mother Nature is at our mercy.
“Of the Air”
The short film was Velez’s thesis project for her Master in Fine Arts in visual arts at Washington University, St. Louis. It was made in response the planet’s current climate crisis.
Velez choreographed for “Of the Air” a four-minute dance performance. She described it as a duet with the breeze from her kitchen’s AC.
It started with my irritation with the AC unit,” Velez stated. “This big machine that is really loud and really sort-of overwhelming the space too, and I was kinda relying on them for relief from summer heat.”
Velez stated that she wanted to experiment with the idea of wind manipulating her body, rather than her controlling air temperature and flow. She angled the camera in such a way that it captured her personal view on how humans can box themselves in.
Velez’s final semester of graduate program was interrupted by COVID-19. She felt it appropriate to film in her kitchen as that is where she got the idea.
Velez, an emerging artist, said that she is honored to be awarded this award.
She considers “Of the Air” and many of her other projects to be $0 budget projects. She can also explore new locations and the type of equipment she can use with the funds from the award.
Velez said that she is very excited to explore her practice further.
Patricia Olynyk was the Florence and Frank Bush Professor in Art at Washington University. She was one of the principal advisers to Velez’s thesis committee.
Olynyk stated that it was unusual for a performance artist so to draw from such a strong kind of sedition of dancing in their work. “There are a few artists that do this, but she has really found the incredible, interstitial place between dance performance and performance arts.”
After two years of working with Velez, Olynyk stated that the pandemic had struck after she finished her graduate program. The creativity of Velezs art was not affected.
Velez described herself as adaptable and resilient, allowing her to retreat into a space for filming from her apartment.
Olynyk stated, “I think that this is extraordinary.”
UNC is a great place to work
Velez is a multimedia technician at UNC and oversees the digital lab and maintains equipment in the Department of Art and Art History.
North Carolina’s landscape attracted her to the state. She cited her love of the coast, mountains, and coast as well as the arts scene in North Carolina.
Lindsay Fulenwider, the department business officer and manager in the Department of Art and Art History, appointed Velez last year. She stated that the department was making positive changes.
Fulenwider stated that there are many diverse faculty now, which is a good thing. “We have studio and art history so we have two curriculums that can work together. I think it works well. We are a small but strong department with good leadership.
Fulenwider stated that the department has worked to strengthen and expand the core program through department leadership and connections between departments.
Velez stated that she is currently trying out different ideas for her next project. She said that the grant was encouraging for her future artistic endeavors, particularly as a young artist.
Olynyk stated that her program at Washington University was extremely fortunate to have Velez.
Olynyk said that graduate school can be very challenging. “I believe that graduate school can make it difficult for students in a way that makes it difficult for them to take on the challenges that a very high level critical inquiry and high production requires. Alexa was always very clear about what her role was.” She was a great student.
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